What Does “Rejoice In The Lord” Mean?

What Does “Rejoice In The Lord” Mean? May 15, 2017

Not long ago, an acquaintance asked me how I was doing. She knows my husband and I are facing a number of serious trials. I was having a hard day, and told her so. My words hung in the air for a moment. She rushed to fill the uncomfortable silence with a Bible verse encouraging me to rejoice in God’s faithfulness.

We’ve all been there – either on the speaking end or the receiving end. I cringe remembering times I’ve offered words meant to comfort someone who is hurting, only to have those words clank like plastic platitudes they are because I’ve spoken them trying to quell my own discomfort with the other person’s pain. And I’ve received words meant to encourage, but sometimes those words have in the past seemed to me a bit of a demand to perform so the person speaking them to me would feel better about me or my situation.

There are numerous injunctions in Scripture to praise the Lord no matter what the circumstances are. (There are also commands to mourn, lament, confess, and remain silent.) I believe the acquaintance who encouraged me to rejoice per Philippians 4:4-7 meant well. But I wondered what she expected me to do in that moment. What is rejoicing supposed to look like in times of trial or loss?

There are amazing testimonies of praise for God that emerge out of the darkest moments of life. We rightly celebrate and recount those stories. They’ve strengthened my faith through the years. But they do set up the expectations in some circles that if our faith is sound, we will appear confident and victorious in the midst of a crisis. Those expectations are soul-killers, but nonetheless, they persist in some congregations.

A few days after I was urged by my acquaintance to rejoice already…[Read more]


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